SnowFlying increases presence in social commerce

SnowFlying Industrial Co, a Chinese down apparel maker, is ramping up efforts to expand its footprint in e-commerce and social media platforms, and tap into the immense consumption potential of China's young generation.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 resurgence, the sales from major online marketplaces have witnessed robust growth, surging 80 percent year-on-year during the January-July period, said Zhu Xiangdong, co-partner and general manager of SnowFlying.

"The turnover from brick-and-mortar stores jumped 70 percent in July compared with same period last year," Zhu said, while estimating the growth rate in offline channels will come up to more than 50 percent this year.

Its gross merchandise volume-a measure of the transactions of goods-is expected to surpass 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in 2023, an increase of 50 percent on a yearly basis, Zhu said.

He noted homegrown brands have gained traction among Chinese young consumers, who have shown increasing demand for personalized and fashionable products.

During last year's Singles Day shopping carnival, young people aged 18 to 24 accounted for 31 percent of the total consumers who purchased products via SnowFlying's Tmall flagship store, while people aged 25 to 30 took up 30 percent, he added.

Citing that more and more consumers have switched to online shopping during the pandemic, SnowFlying has not only collaborated with traditional e-commerce channels, such as Alibaba's Tmall, JD and Vip.com, but also expanded its layout in social commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu, Zhu said, adding the company will increase investment in emerging sales channels.

Social commerce means a person's entire shopping experience-from product discovery to the check-out process-takes place on a social media platform.